1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electro-medical apparatus comprising a plurality of electrodes, which are adapted to receive bio-electrical signals emitted by an individual, in correspondence of specific areas of his body and comprising means for collecting data collected by the electrodes, so that said signals could be analyzed and a substantially objective evaluation of the equilibrium of the body functions at the level of said specific areas could be performed.
2. Discussion of the Background
For decades, engineers have attempted to facilitate the analysis and the diagnosis of the human body functions as well as to help physicians in the objective evaluation of the patient's health.
It has been about twenty years since German physicians were able to acquire the bio-electrical signals, which are emitted in correspondence of specific areas of the human body, and so they obtained from these data bio-electrical information of an individual, who is examined by a physician. It is well known that the human body emits electrical signals in correspondence of its specific areas. Said signals, duly picked-up and amplified, allow to translate the signals (microampere, microvolt, ohm, conductance, frequency, etc.) into data, which are related to the more or less normal equilibirum of the examinated individual.
The first apparatuses, which were conceived in Germany, would analyze the bio-electrical state of seven areas of the human body, as well as proceed in the reading of the electrical potential, stimulate the measure area with a 10 Hz. impulse package in order to remeasure the conduttance in that area, to make the passive reading of the (inverse) current discharge, stimulate again the measure area with an inverted current impulses, read again the value of said current and therefore of the electrical potential. Said current was repeated seven times on seven human body areas.
The information, which was collected from the seven analyzed areas, had to to be evaluated according to a substantially objective way from the physician, who had used the bio-medical apparatus. The important fact was made of the method, which allowed to use the bio-electronic information and allowed to make a diagnostic interpretation. Already at the time the collected information should be based on a statistic interpretation, but it was recognized that this information would prove the normality or the abnormality of a certain area of the body, for instance the patient's head.
It should be pointed out that the electromedical apparatuses, which were first manufactured in Germany, were able to give the physician a series of data, which were then translated into graphics. These graphics were rather difficult to decipher, whereby at least some years were necessary for the physician to approximately interpret these data.
The German manufacturers of said apparatuses arrived to a considerable sophistication as far as the electrical data measure in some human body areas is concerned, as well as to involve acupuncture therapies, Chinese medicine, etc. But they limited themselves to substantially decode the electrical data of these measures and to simplify their interpretation.
In the U.S.A. the analysis technique of electrical potentials has been used mainly as encephalograms, sleep state measurement, and so on, but not as bio-functional measures, i.e. the measures, which provide elements for arriving to a certain diagnosis and to say, on the collected data basis, whether a certain organ of the human body is working or not and how much this working departs from a normal state.
Meanwhile it is to be pointed out that said bio-functional measures present a further important advantage, i.e. they can record according to a specific way the health state of an individual and a further analysis, which confirm the same data, should just correspond to the same individual and never to another one.
As for Japan, they just started to develop a similar apparatus and we would likely learn quite soon interesting news in the field of the bio-electronic.
The German school of the bio-functional measures has achieved up to indicate the electrical signals (conductance, current, etc.), which are present in correspondence of specific areas of the human body and suggest, by comparison and by survey, a rather reduced interpretation of the collected data. It could be a further big success for the producers of such an apparatus to use it after a shorter time, which is requested for a good training even with the help of a data bank.
In general, physicians who use a scientific apparatus require that the same apparatus should give the elements of a certain result, i.e. of a certain diagnosis, whereas the same physicians intend to arrive to definitive diagnostic conclusions. Therefore, what is important is that apparatus could supply a certain outline, whereas the physician should verify the outline which is given by the apparatus.
On the basis of the collected data, which are not subjected in Germany to particular processing or decoding, further measures could suggest to the physician the possible patient change of state, whereby the most critical point depends on the results of the first examination, because it is much easier to make a comparison of the data collected later on with the data previously collected.
In order to summarize what up to now was explained, the similar German apparatuses provide data, which are often subject to a difficult, subjective interpretation, whereby a risk is present in the possibility of errors in such an interpretation.
As for the safety of these apparatuses, the German ones are generally working with a power supply of 220 V. 50 Hz., which could affect the patient state and the response of the apparatus. In the field of the bio-electronics the energy supply should be substantially insulated. The signal, which is emitted by the apparatuses, should be quite clean, whereas the German ones don't respect such a requirement because they were conceived about 20 years ago, when the microelectronics was not in the condition to give substantially better resolutions.
The interpretation of the tests, which were carried out by the German apparatuses, was depending on the diagram plotted on a sheet of paper, with no reference to digital values for a rather quantitative interpretation of the data.
The main problem, which the apparatus according to the invention intends to solve, is to propose an instrument of the bio-energetical-functional type, which should be able to evaluate whether and to what extent the various organs or systems of the patient are working how much they depart from the optimum conditions, which organ or system could be the origin of the problem and, at last, how to prevent such deviations from the optimum conditions.
It should be observed that at least two different schools are present in the medical field: the first one belongs to the classic school, which suggests after ascertaining the presence of a disease to intervene in order to eliminate the disease. The bio-energetical-functional school does trouble to establish the presence of an abnormal state, but mainly it does trouble how much the present state of the patient is departing from a normal state, as well as when and according to which extent the patient is improving during and after a therapy. The bio-electronical science intends to prevent and to monitor the therapy through a well-timed and continuous control of the evolutive and involutive patient state.